1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a medical support system and a method thereof. More specifically, the present invention relates to the system that enables a conference through bi-directional sharing of an image using a network, and the method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
With a development of communication technology, video conferences can be performed via the network such as the Internet at places that are distant from each other. For example, when the conference is performed in a medical field, the video conference is generally performed using only voice or both voice and the image (video). Also, a medical image is generally transmitted and received over the network and displayed. However, when details of an observation about the image are discussed during the conference, it is difficult to indicate a specific site to the other person without the image even when anatomical terms are used. In addition, when the medical image is transmitted and received, the transmission and reception are generally performed with compressed data, and thus the image may be deteriorated. Furthermore, in a remote place such as a foreign country, it may be necessary to interact with places where band frequency of network lines are different from each other, and the system is also needed to enable the conference even in this case. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2008-217294 discloses a technology that a doctor in a medical facility discusses with a doctor outside of the medical facility using the medical images in real time.
However, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2008-217294 discloses that the real-time discussion is performed using the medical image, but there is no means for indicating a specific site in the image. Therefore, there is a risk that the recognition of the specific site is not properly shared with each other during the discussion. Also, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2008-217294 does not disclose that operation information is transmitted only in one direction without sharing the operation information with each other. When the real-time discussion is performed using the medical image, unless otherwise properly indicated any specific site in the image, it is difficult to recognize the specific site through exchange of only words to thereby make a wrong diagnosis. Therefore, it is preferable to share the specific site recognized with each other and the other operation information with each other. Furthermore, when the conference is performed in remote places, the medical image for conference is compressed and transmitted or received if the band frequency of the network line is narrow, and thus a difference in quality of the shared image may be occurred due to deterioration of the image or the like.